Congress Approves Extension of Warrantless Surveillance as Part of the Defense Policy Bill

Congress Approves Extension of Warrantless Surveillance as Part of the Defense Policy Bill

The oath one takes when sworn into Congress (emphasis mine):

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

The Fourth Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What did Congress do today?

It extended Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until mid-April. The vote was 310-118.

Section 702 of FISA became official in 2008. Do you know what it contains? A provision that it should “be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment.”

Except it allows too much wiggle room that allows warrantless surveillance of Americans in America. (By the way, the Constitution applies to citizens no matter where the citizen is in the world.)

Nobody should be okay with this. Here’s a great summary (emphasis mine):

Although the law requires the government to direct this surveillance at people outside the United States, in practice, it routinely ensnares Americans. Section 702 allows the government to target any foreigner abroad for warrantless surveillance to obtain “foreign intelligence information.” The government’s targets need not have any connection to criminal activity or terrorism; they can be journalists, human rights workers, or businesspeople communicating about the “foreign affairs” of the United States. In the course of this surveillance, the government vacuums up—without a warrant—the communications of countless Americans who have texted, called, messaged, or emailed any one of hundreds of thousands of foreign targets.

147 of supposed small government Republicans voted for the extension. Only 73 voted no.

“If you don’t want the government surveilling you, what do you have to hide?” None of your damn business. My welcome mat says, “Come Back With a Warrant.” It’s not to make people laugh or giggle. It’s there to tell any authority to bring a warrant.

It’s the featured image for this post.

It mainly passed because Congress attached it to the National Defense Authorization Act. So you know those 147 Republicans will claim, “I had no choice! I had to vote for the defense bill!”

The House had an opportunity to bring two bills to the floor that would reform Section 702. (Crazy idea…how about we junk warrantless surveillance?)

The Republicans screamed and yelled about the bills behind closed doors, forcing leadership to cancel the bills on Monday night.

Progressive Democrats and Trump supporters joined together to support “a Judiciary Committee bill that would sharply curtail the law while enhancing protections for Americans’ privacy rights.”

Centrists and warmongers wanted the Intelligence Committee bill with only “modest changes.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) wants a standalone FISA bill: “The fact of the matter is what’s being stated is it is impossible to oppose the National Defense Authorization Act because we put a pay raise in it or because we put something in there that is seemingly so important that we have to ignore the critical destruction of our civil liberties by adding FISA extension right on the top of it without doing the forms necessary to protect the American people.”

My research found that the Supreme Court has declined to hear all cases challenging Section 702 of FISA. The declassified decisions and opinions of cases regarding Section 702 of FISA are mostly blacked out.

Yes, you have to get them declassified.

They know it’s unconstitutional. It’s ridiculous:

Section 702 was created to allow intelligence agencies to spy on foreigners believed to be threats, but it has predictably expanded into a way for law enforcement agencies like the FBI to snoop through Americans’ communications without a warrant.

In 2021 alone, the FBI ran more than 3.3 million queries through the Section 702 database, according to a government transparency report. Separately, a 2021 report from the secret federal court responsible for adjudicating Section 702 matters documented 40 instances in which the FBI accessed surveillance data as part of investigations into a host of purely domestic crimes, including health care fraud and public corruption. The program has been used to spy on U.S. senators, protesters criticizing police, and people involved in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

FISA contains many sections, all of them secretive. When the FBI gets a warrant, it doesn’t need probable cause, which violates the Fourth Amendment. Let’s not forget how the FBI failed with the FISA warrants and courts to surveil Carter Page. It just goes to show the rot within FISA as the government uses it to target Americans.

Here are the 118 Representatives who voted to protect your right to privacy. (Nay to FISA warrantless surveillance as part of NDAA)

We lost but it was close. We needed 143 votes (1/3) to stop FISA since they suspended the rules to bring it to the floor. https://t.co/xqMeOn8SKM pic.twitter.com/2hgHHdgY6z

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 14, 2023

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